The first week of March yielded mixed results for the three evening newscasts. The CBS Evening News was the only newscast to see week-to-week growth in total viewers, while NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt enjoyed positive movement in the Adults 25-54 demo.
As for World News Tonight with David Muir, the flagship ABC News newscast maintained its No. 1 position in both measured categories, but missed out on any week-to-week growth. It will be interesting to see whether the advent of daylight savings time impacts any of the three broadcasts— particularly CBS Evening News, which has seen some traction recently.
Note: The weekly averages of ABC World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News are based on four days (Monday, Wednesday – Friday), while CBS News’ averages are based on three days (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday). All three programs were retitled on Tuesday (03/04/2025) and CBS News’ Friday (03/07/24) broadcast was retitled to CBS Evening Nws. These broadcasts are excluded from the weekly and season averages.
ABC World News Tonight averaged 7.891 million total viewers and 1.064 A25-54 viewers for a flat result in the former category and a dip of -1% in the latter compared to the previous week. Looking at its performance alongside the same week in 2024 (the week of March 4), WNT was up +1% in total viewers, but fell -3% in the demo.
NBC Nightly News finished second in total viewers and the A25-54 crowd, averaging 6.393 million viewers and 952,000 viewers, respectively. Week-to-week, Nightly News was flat in total viewers and up +1% in the demo. Year-to-year, the newscast also remained flat in the former category and ticked upwards by +4% in the latter.
CBS Evening News saw 4.378 million total viewers and 623,000 viewers in the demo for a week-to-week gain of +2% in the former category and a -3% dip in the latter. Compared to 2024, the newscast’s numbers declined by -3% in both total viewers and the demo.
| ABC | NBC | CBS | |
| • Total Viewers: | 7,891,000 | 6,393,000 | 4,378,000 |
| • A25-54: | 1,064,000 | 952,000 | 623,000 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, NTI Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Live + SD Current Week (w/o 3/3/25), Previous Week (w/o 2/24/25) and Year-Ago Week (w/o 3/4/24). Most Current Data Stream: 2024-2025 Season (9/23/24 – 3/9/25) and 2023-2024 Season (9/25/23 – 3/10/24). Nielsen ratings for ABC, NBC and CBS include additional airings in select markets. Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Averages based on regular telecasts.
